Courtesy Jacob Flores

A wildfire sparked on the hillside above Cedar Hills on Wednesday evening, burning dangerously close to homes.

According to Utah Fire Info, what initially was being called the Hub City Fire, but was later renamed the Cedar Hills Fire 2025, reportedly started sometime after 5 p.m. on private lands but quickly burned in the U.S. Forest Service land near the foot of Mount Timpanogos.

Justin Roach, the Wasatch Front area manager for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands, said the fire has burned an estimated 25 acres, and crews had stopped forward progression on the fire.

“No containment to report on at this time, but command staff (are) saying things are going very well,” he told reporters during a briefing Wednesday evening.

However, by 11 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was said to be 20% contained, according to Utah Fire Info.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

The fire threatened roughly 100 homes sitting directly underneath the area where the fire occurred. None of the homes were evacuated but police limited access to the neighborhood near Morgan Boulevard and Canyon Road for a time as crews worked to put the fire out.

As of Wednesday evening, fire officials said there was no damage to any nearby structures.

The fire prompted a multi-agency response from neighboring fire departments in northern Utah County and southern Salt Lake County to get a quick handle on the blaze.

Multiple air resources were also deployed to drop water and retardant on the fire.

A large plume of white smoke towered over the Cedar Hills area and could be seen across Utah Valley.

Battalion Chief Brandon Boshard with the American Fork Fire Department, the agency that handles fire response for Cedar Hills, said that while crews aren’t out of the woods yet with this incident, the fire had the potential to yield extreme impacts.

“This fire was very, very scary for us; it was close to being a catastrophic event,” Boshard said.

He said crews were able to see the fire moving uphill and away from homes.

By 8:30 p.m. much of the smoke had subsided, leaving a visible burn scar on the Cedar Hills mountainside.

But with the risk of winds picking up overnight, Boshard said crews are staying on scene to ensure flames don’t pick back up and reignite the threat to nearby residents.

While the cause is under investigation, Boshard noted that many of the wildfires that crews respond to are caused by humans.

With the Fourth of July coming up, he urges people to pay attention to fire restrictions and to exercise caution when using fireworks.